Ex-DPWH exec Karen Jimeno named to Palace post

Lawyer Karen Jimeno has joined the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) after serving as undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for more than a year.

An appointment paper released on Wednesday showed President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday named Jimeno as undersecretary for disaster resiliency under the PMS, which is under the supervision of Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go.

Jimeno rose to prominence when she became part of the defense team and one of the spokespersons for the late Chief Justice Renato Corona in his impeachment trial in 2012.

She had also served as spokesperson for the Aquino administration’s rehabilitation efforts following the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.

Jimeno also had a brief stint as co-anchor of a morning news program before she joined the Duterte administration in 2016 as undersecretary for legal affairs and priority projects of the DPWH.

Also on Wednesday, the Palace released the appointment papers of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Special Envoy to Kuwait Abdullah Mama-o and Benjamin Palmero as member of the board of directors of the PNOC Renewables Corporation. — MDM, GMA News